Swiss State Blocks Cyberattack, but Another Hits Contractor

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's government says state cyber-experts detected and prevented an attempted cyberattack on the Swiss defense department, while another attack "disrupted" the systems of a contractor for the foreign affairs department.

The federal chancellery says in a statement that ill-intentioned hackers used the well-known Turla malware in the July attack against the servers of the defense department. It didn't elaborate.

The defense and foreign affairs departments each filed a legal complaint with federal prosecutors, who are investigating. The office of Attorney General Michael Lauber confirmed receipt of the complaints, but declined to comment further.

In an e-mail, foreign affairs department spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier said the attack against the contractor, which was not specified, had not been previously disclosed to allow authorities to secure the computer systems. He declined to comment further.

Switzerland's government says state cyber-experts detected and prevented an attempted cyberattack on the Swiss defense department, while another attack "disrupted" the systems of a contractor for the foreign affairs department.The federal chancellery says in a statement...